The Board of Directors of Lungarno Collection, a luxury hospitality group owned by the Ferragamo family, has appointed former Chief Operating Officer Valeriano Antonioli to Chief Executive Officer.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announces the debut of the first St. Regis hotel in Florence with the opening of The St. Regis Florence. The hotel, formerly the Grand Hotel Florence under Starwood's The Luxury Collection(R) brand, underwent a meticulous 10-month restoration to bring the property back to its historical grandeur and artistic heritage.
With 14 years in the hospitality industry, Dutch-born Leenders brings a wealth of management experience to the new role and joins the hotel from The Rocco Forte Collection’s head office, where as Brand Support Director he oversaw the brand quality and quality measurement, corporate human resources and served as Secretary to the Executive Committee. Fluent in several languages, Leenders joined The Rocco Forte Collection as Deputy General Manager of London’s Brown’s Hotel in 2005 and went on to build up considerable experience across several of its properties in Acting General Manager roles at Hotel Amigo in Brussels and Brown’s Hotel and provided pre-and post-opening support for Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily. A graduate from the renowned Hotel School The Hague, Leenders started his career as a fast track corporate management trainee with Hyatt International in the US and the Middle East. Prior to joining The Rocco Forte Collection, he spent time as Food & Beverage Director at the Park Hyatt in Hamburg before taking up the General Manager position for two privately owned five star resorts in the Seychelles.
Prior to joining Lungarno Alberghi s.r.l., since January 2007 Antonioli was the Managing Director of InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa, a 293-room luxury resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, with 3,100 square meters luxury spa, 3,000 square meters of meeting/ banquet space and wedding facilities, six food and beverage outlets, five pools, three retail outlets, and 34 single family homes. In this role, he has been a member of the development team and successfully opened it in 2008 although the global economic crisis, immediately positioning it as a preferred destination resort for both local residents and upscale and luxury travellers. Under his guidance, the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa has achieved important accolades, such as Travel + Leisure ‘13th Best US and Canada Hotel 2010’, Esquire magazine ‘Best New US Restaurant 2009’, Wine Spectator ‘Annual Restaurant Award 2009’, American Spa Magazine ‘Best Resort Spa 2009’, RobbReport.com ‘New and Noteworthy Spa 2009’, Departures ‘Best five new spas worldwide’, among others. Upon opening, in 2009 the property had been hot listed both by Travel + Leisure and by Condé Nast Traveler as one of the top new hotels in the world.
Alberto Pirozzini has a wealth of experience in the luxury hotel sector. Most recently he was General Manager for the Lungarno Hotel in Florence and previously spent six years with the Ritz Carlton group in California, Bahamas, Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. He started his career with Four Seasons in the USA. Alberto Pirozzini comments, “I am delighted to have the opportunity to join The Rocco Forte Collection and the illustrious Hotel Savoy. I am very much looking forward to working with the hotel’s award-winning team and to greeting its customers.”
Dusit International, one of Asia’s leading hotel brands, makes its first debut in Europe with the launch of its Devarana Spa at the new ultra-luxury hotel IL SALVIATINO–Florence in June 2009. The brand’s European expansion is through a joint venture with international development and management company MPg, which specializes in small luxury hotels.